


Like a Bruise

by bootyycutie



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: AU, F/F, High School AU, birth marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 19:39:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8591110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bootyycutie/pseuds/bootyycutie
Summary: Lauren is kind of a punk who hates her birthmark. Camila is the school sweetheart who’s wanted to kiss Lauren since she first saw her.





	

**Author's Note:**

> my first fifth harmony fic and my first AO3 fic!! Originally posted on my tumblr blog but i thought i'd post it here in honor of Lauren coming out as bi!!

The man staring at Lauren has to be at least 40, she’s pretty sure. His hazel eyes are practically burning a hole into Lauren’s face as she scowls back at him. I know I’m hideous, she wants to say, but you’re not exactly a looker yourself.

He finally looks away when Ally clears her throat loudly, her eyes narrowed at him. “Your total is $32.17, sir.” She’s not bothering to hide her irritation and Lauren can’t help but smile.

Lauren and Ally work together at a gas station and they almost always have the same shift together. Lauren’s worked there for around eight months now and she and Ally have become good friends. Lauren can’t remember now when it started, but at some point she started asking Ally to put makeup on her birthmark to hide it, so people won’t stare. And Ally uses her concealer and covers it as best she can until it’s faded enough that it sort of looks like Lauren’s got a fading black eye.

The thing is Lauren only just got to work and Ally hasn’t had a chance to put her concealer on so Lauren’s birthmark is as prominent as always. Lauren supposes she can’t blame him, but after a lifetime of stares and questions, she can’t help but be annoyed.

Roughly the color of a bruise, her birthmark is an uneven circle around her right eye. Lauren can’t look at herself for long- she’s too disgusted by her birthmark. She thinks it makes her ugly. She thinks maybe she could be beautiful if it weren’t for the mark.

“What an asshole,” Ally says, shaking her head in irritation and slipping into the backroom to grab her purse. Lauren is seated on an upside down crate, waiting for Ally to make her look presentable. Ally emerges moments later and crouches down in front of the younger girl, setting to work, gently dabbing the concealer around Lauren’s eye.

“He’s just curious,” Lauren shrugs. “It’s whatever.”

Ally frowns at that, like she’s disappointed that Lauren is so accepting of this treatment, but she doesn’t say anything about it, just sighs and whispers, “Close your eye so I can do your eyelid.” So Lauren does, and she imagines what it would be like to be able to go out without makeup but still look normal.

-

Her shift is nearly over when she slips outside to take a smoke break, pulling a zip-up hoodie over the red polo shirt she has to wear for her work uniform. She’s leaning against the wall, taking a long drag when a car pulls up and parks at a pump. The girl who steps out from the driver’s seat is Camila Cabello, a girl Lauren goes to school with.

Camila has long dark hair and big brown eyes and lips made for kissing. She’s beautiful and funny and one of the most popular girls in school and Lauren’s sure Camila doesn’t even know her name. If Camila is aware of Lauren’s existence, it’s strictly as birthmark girl.

She watches Camila use her card to pay, then leaves the pump going before heading inside to grab a drink.

Lauren swears she only looked away for a second, responding to a text from her sister, but then the car is starting and speeding away and Camila is running from the door of the gas station after her car.

“Hey!” Camila screams. “Hey, that’s my car! Stop!” She stops just a few feet from the road, watching her car disappearing into the distance, panting from running after it. “Oh, my god,” she breathes out. “Fuck…my car…what am I going to do? Oh, my god…”

Lauren’s already dialed 911, her phone pressed to her ear, reporting the location of the gas station and what just happened, watching Camila the entire time. Even with the 20 feet or so between them, Lauren can see that the smaller girl is shaking, slowly walking back towards the gas station, still breathing out things like oh, my god and what do I do. Before Camila gets too close, Lauren pulls her hood up and tries to pull it low on her face to hide her eyes. She pulls her hair over the right side of her face too, doing her best to hide her birthmark. It’s been long enough since Ally put on the concealer that it’s faded now and her mark is more prominent again. It would be just her luck that she’s in her work uniform, looking like shit, when she runs into the most beautiful girl in school.

“I called the police,” Lauren tells Camila. “They’re on their way.”

“Thanks,” Camila practically whimpers. Now that they’re standing closer to one another, Lauren sees tears in her eyes.

She finally looks away from the road over to Lauren and her face lights up in recognition. “Hey…we go to school together.”

“Yeah, we do,” Lauren confirms.

Camila smiles weakly, “I recognize you because of your ey-”

“Yeah, uh, anyway…I’m sorry about your car,” Lauren interrupts quickly, not wanting to get into the conversation. She can already hear the questions (so…what’s wrong with your eye, anyway?). “If I hadn’t been texting, then maybe I could’ve done something.”

Camila’s brows are furrowed, confused at Lauren’s abrupt change in topic, but quickly recovers. “No, no, it’s ok. Not your fault. Besides, whoever it was, they may have been dangerous. You might’ve gotten yourself hurt.”

“I guess,” Lauren shrugs.

Camila frowns, “My dad is going to kill me.”

“I’m sure he won’t,” Lauren assures her. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Camila runs a hand through her hair, looking distressed. “I hope.”

The police get there then and begin questioning the girls- Lauren, Camila, and Ally- on what happened. None of them saw the person who did it, but there is a security camera that caught the guy on tape, and the cops think it may be enough to figure out who he is, though it only got part of his face.

When it’s all over, Lauren figures the least she can do is offer Camila a ride home, so Ally tells her to cut out even though it’s still half an hour before her shift officially ends, and the two climb into Lauren’s car.

“Thanks for the ride,” Camila says quietly.

“No problem,” Lauren replies. “I hope they get your car back.”

“Me too,” Camila sighs. “I’ve got some good cd’s in there.”

Lauren hums in acknowledgment.

Camila laughs suddenly and Lauren takes her eyes off the road long enough to flash the younger girl a perplexed look. “I’m sorry,” Camila says, still giggling. “You’re just…I don’t know, so, like…quiet and mysterious. But nice. Nicer than I imagined.”

Lauren furrows her brows in confusion at that. “Nicer than you imagined?” she repeats. “What do you mean?”

“You just always seem so…I don’t know, intense? At school, you’re always, like scowling. I always imagined you’d be kind of an asshole,” Camila explains.

“You imagine what I’m like?” Lauren asks, smirking at Camila, who’s face reddens when she realizes what she’s admitted to.

“I just meant…like you see someone and you think, like, oh they’re probably smart…that’s all, not that I, like, spend loads of time thinking about you,” Camila stammers, embarrassed now.

Lauren laughs, “Ok, I’m just teasing, dude, take a breath.”

Camila pouts at her, “Hey. Be nice to me, my car just got stolen!”

“I am being nice, you said so yourself,” Lauren retorts, enjoying the banter.

“Well I take it back,” Camila announces.

Lauren feigns an offended look. “You can’t take it back!”

“I just did,” Camila says, sticking her tongue out childishly. Lauren glares at her playfully and Camila giggles, then sits up a little straighter in her seat. “Oh, my street is up here on the right; second house on the left.” Lauren nods and moments later, she’s pulling into Camila’s driveway. “Well,” Camila says, unbuckling her seatbelt, “thanks for the ride home. And for calling the cops and giving them all the information you had.”

“It’s what any decent person would do,” Lauren shrugs. “I hope you get your car back.”

“Thanks,” Camila smiles. “Anyway, I guess I’ll see you at school.” With that, she slips out of Lauren’s car and heads up to her house, turning to wave one last time before going inside. Lauren sighs to herself; she’s pretty sure Camila’s never going to talk to her again.

-

Lauren is always wrong.

That’s what she decides when Camila comes bounding up to her Monday at school, in the hallway while Lauren is at her locker.

“Hey!” Camila chirps. “What’re you doing on Friday?”

Lauren blinks, still recovering from the fact that Camila is actually talking to her. “Uh…I don’t know, nothing probably.”

“Great! Want to come to a party with me?”

“A party,” Lauren repeats, trying to wrap her mind around this.

Camila smiles brightly and nods, “Yeah, you know my friend Normani? She’s throwing a party at her house on Friday and told me I could invite a couple of people. I thought you and I could go together!”

None of this makes sense to Lauren. Camila Cabello, one of the most popular girls in school, inviting Lauren, the birthmark girl, to a party? Lauren knows something is up and after a moment, it all clicks and her mind manages to put the puzzle together. “Oh,” she says the moment she figures it out. “You need a ride.”

Camila’s brows furrow, “What?”

Lauren smirks knowingly, trying to hide her hurt feelings, but she knows her eyes are shining with pain. “You know I have a car and you know I feel bad for texting instead of stopping that guy taking your car, so you know I’ll give you a ride.”

Camila narrows her eyes. “Excuse me?” she cries. “You think I’m inviting you to this party for a ride?”

Lauren shrugs, “You’ve never invited me to a party before. Suddenly the weekend after your car gets stolen you want to hang out with me?”

Camila looks pissed, angrier than Lauren’s ever seen…well, pretty much anyone look. “So that’s the kind of person you think I am?” she demands, her eyes studying Lauren’s face. Lauren does her best to remain stoic. “Wow. Ok, well you know what? Forget it. Don’t come to the party. Because guess what, Lauren; I can take my mom’s car, like I was planning to do. I was going to pick you up and drive us there. I was never going to ask you to drive. But now that you’re not coming, maybe I’ll just ask Dinah to drive me. Or I’ll go home with Normani after school and help her get everything ready, like I did last time she threw a party. Or I’ll ask one of my other friends to give me a ride. Because I have plenty of ways to get to the party. But it’s good to know that that’s how you think of me because I would never want to go to a party with someone who thinks that’s the kind of person I am.”

With that, Camila turns around, her hair flipping, and storms off down the hallway, leaving Lauren behind her, feeling like absolute shit.

Lauren is always wrong.

-

At the end of the day, Lauren hurries to her locker and gets her things quickly before scanning the hall for Camila. She owes a massive apology to the younger girl; she’s felt guilty all day. Finally, she spots Camila talking with a group of people, laughing, and Lauren can’t help but smile. Camila really is fucking beautiful.

Lauren takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself, before determinedly making her way towards Camila.

“So, are you going to Normani’s party this weekend?” she can hear Austin, a boy in their grade, asking Camila.

Just as Camila opens her mouth to respond, Lauren calls out, “Camila!”

Camila turns around, her face expectant, but she immediately frowns and rolls her big brown eyes when she sees it’s Lauren.

“Camila, can I talk to you? Please?” Lauren says, widening her eyes hopefully.

Camila considers for a moment, but sighs and nods, allowing Lauren to pull her away, into a stairwell, which is mostly empty now. “What do you want?” Camila mutters.

“I owe you a massive apology,” Lauren starts. Camila quirks an eyebrow skeptically and Lauren figures that’s a good sign. “I was a complete asshole. You were right; I made assumptions about you and I was so, so wrong. Let me drive you home and I can maybe explain myself?”

Camila glares at her, “If I accept your ride, does that mean I’m just using you? Because, you know, Dinah can give me a ride so I don’t need one, thank you very much.”

“Ok, I deserve that,” Lauren says. She slips her backpack off and pulls a fistful of flowers from the little drink-holding pouch on the side. They’re wilted now, from being in Lauren’s locker all day, but she holds them up to Camila hopefully. “Do these help at all? I skipped second period to go out and pick them for you.”

Slowly, Camila smiles, her eyes lighting up a bit as she reaches out and takes the flowers. “Alright, I guess I can let you drive me home.”

-

They’re halfway to Camila’s house before Lauren finds the courage to explain her shitty behavior.

“You’re, um…you’re really popular, ok?” Lauren sighs.

“Huh?”

“I’m trying to explain,” Lauren says.

“Lauren, it’s fine, ok? Forget it. I forgive you,” Camila assures her. “And you can come to the party, if you want. I’ll still pick you up and everything.”

“Camila, please, just…let me explain? I’ve been working up the courage to tell you this.”

Camila’s touched, admittedly, that Lauren wants to share something that’s clearly difficult to talk about. “Ok, I’m listening.” She turns in her seat so she’s facing Lauren better.

“So…you’re really popular and I’m…well, I’m not,” Lauren begins. “You have a lot of friends, I have one friend. You spend your weekends going to parties, I spend them watching horror movies in my room by myself. Someone like you inviting me to a party doesn’t make sense. And even though I know you’re not the kind of person to use someone, that’s the only thing that made sense to me. I mean, you’d never talked to me before your car got stolen so I just thought…”

“Because I was intimidated,” Camila interrupts.

“What?” Lauren can’t help but laugh.

“You’re, like, always scowling,” Camila cries. “I wanted to talk to you; I thought you were interesting, but I was too scared.”

“You were too scared to talk to me?” Lauren laughs.

“Yeah,” Camila replies, her face heating up in embarrassment. “I mean, having my car stolen wasn’t an ideal way to start talking to you, but it did break the ice, so I figured now that we’ve started talking, I may as well try to establish a friendship.”

Lauren is silent for a few moments, but as she pulls into Camila’s driveway and puts her car in park she breathes out, “I can’t believe you had any interest in talking to me.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Lauren shrugs, “I’m really lame.”

“No, you’re not,” Camila argues, rolling her eyes. “Now, let’s put all this nonsense behind us and agree to come to the party with me, alright?”

Lauren grins, “Alright. I’ll come to the party with you.”

-

Camila looks hot (of course). She’s clad in tight jeans and a crop top and Lauren has to force herself not to stare as the younger girl leads Lauren into Normani’s house. It reminds Lauren of a party from a teen movie, but a mellower version. The music is loud and people are standing around in clumps, drinking, with a few dancing. There aren’t any fights going on or people crying that Lauren sees, though.

Some of the people they pass stare at Lauren, probably wondering why birthmark girl is with Camila, and it makes Lauren itch for a cigarette. She tries to focus on her hand interlocked with Camila’s instead, the same way she’s been focused on Camila instead of her nerves since Camila pulled up to Lauren’s house and the older girl climbed into the car and Camila’s eyes lit up as she looked at her, exclaiming, “Damn, Jauregui, you look sexy!”

The thing is Lauren and Camila have been texting all week- they exchanged numbers after Lauren agreed to go to the party with Camila- and it’s maybe a little bit possible that Lauren has developed a crush. Lauren has spent entirely too much time thinking about said crush. One-third of the time she’s trying to convince herself she doesn’t like Camila, another third of the time she’s analyzing every interaction she’s had with Camila so far, wondering if she maybe has a chance with the other girl, and the other third of the time she’s feeling hopeless, knowing she’ll never be with this girl.

Currently, following Camila through the party, Lauren’s trying to tell herself she doesn’t have a crush, not really. She’s just excited that Camila wants to be her friend and she’s observed that Camila is attractive- anyone with eyes can see that.

“Mila!” a chorus of voices pulls Lauren from her thoughts, as she and Camila reach the kitchen. Normani and Dinah, Camila’s two best friends, are there, standing at the island in the middle of the kitchen, and a few others are there as well, including some guys from school- Brad and Tristan and Austin.

“Hey guys!” Camila grins. “Do you guys know Lauren, from school?”

Lauren smiles, hoping she doesn’t look as uncomfortable as she feels, and waves at the group. She notices everyone except Normani and Dinah look confused about her being there.

“Yeah, Lauren, glad you could come,” Dinah grins, exchanging a look with Normani that Lauren doesn’t understand. Camila narrows her eyes at them and elbows Normani, who’s standing next to her. Lauren feels like maybe Camila is silently standing up for her and she feels embarrassed and giddy all at once.

“Lauren,” Normani says suddenly, “I think we have Geometry together. Mr. Lewis is so lame, right?”

“Yeah, he’s so boring,” Lauren agrees, grateful to the other girl for making conversation with her.

“How’d you do on that test last week?” Normani asks, but Lauren’s distracted from answering when Austin calls Camila over to him and the smaller girl gives him a confused look before slipping by Lauren (putting a hand on her lower back as she passes her, causing Lauren’s heart rate to pick up).

Even as Lauren answers Normani- “I somehow managed a B, you?”- she can hear Austin asking Camila to dance with him.

“Austin,” Camila sighs in response.

“C’mon, Mila, please,” he begs. “Just one dance!”

Camila rolls her eyes, but laughs, “Alright, fine. One dance.” Lauren tries to ignore the way her heart falls as Camila gently taps her, “Hey, I’ll be right back, ok?”

“Ok,” Lauren nods. Camila allows Austin to lead her away, over by a group of other people dancing and she forces herself not to watch them. She doesn’t want anyone catching her staring, so she decides to focus on the conversation Normani and Dinah are having, but of course they’re talking about Austin and Camila.

“Oh, my god, she’s dancing with him,” Dinah says, but she doesn’t sound excited. She sounds…exasperated?

“He’s so obsessed with her,” Normani informs Lauren. Lauren wants to hear more, wants to know if Camila likes him too, but Normani changes the subject then, offering Lauren a beer. She accepts it because yeah, she could go for a beer.

-

At some point, Dinah disappears to find her boyfriend and Normani invites Lauren to join a group of people she recognizes from school in a drinking game. Lauren sucks and ends up tipsy embarrassingly fast, so after just 20 minutes of playing, she leaves the game in search of a bathroom.

On her way back from the bathroom, she spots Camila, still with Austin. They’re not dancing anymore, though, they’re leaning against a wall drinking, and suddenly Austin leans over and kisses her and Lauren feels sick. She quickly turns away, hurrying into the backyard and fishing her cigarettes out of her pocket. There’s a group of people in a circle getting high, but other than that, the backyard is empty. Lauren ignores them and quickly lights a cigarette, taking a long drag as she sits on a bench on the back porch.

She tries not to think about Camila or Austin or kissing. Instead, she looks around the backyard and admires the lights around the back porch and the little pond with a small waterfall in the corner of the yard. She decides she likes Normani’s backyard.

She’s nearly done with her cigarette when the back door opens and Camila slips out, meandering over and sitting down next to Lauren.

“Hey,” Camila says. “How come you’re out here?”

Lauren shrugs. For a moment, the pair sits in silence and Camila watches Lauren smoke. “Shouldn’t you be inside with Austin?” Lauren asks.

Camila makes a face and groans. “He kissed me.”

Lauren studies the other girl for a few moments. “You didn’t want him to?”

Camila shakes her head no, “I don’t like him like that. I’ve told him that multiple times. Apparently, he takes a while to catch on.”

“So…you’ve told him you don’t like him, but he kissed you anyway?” Lauren exclaims. When Camila nods, Lauren flicks her cigarette away and jumps up. “That asshole. That’s disgusting. You want me to kick his ass for you? Because I will.”

Camila laughs and gently pulls Lauren back down to the bench. “No, I think he gets it now. I told him I like someone else.” Lauren doesn’t know what to say. She’s hoping maybe that was just a lie to get Austin to back off, but she’s too scared to ask, so she just pulls out another cigarette. “Plus, I’m gay, so.”

“You’re gay?” Lauren says skeptically.

Camila nods, “Yeah…The person I like is a girl.” Lauren quirks an eyebrow and Camila grins, “Seriously? I have to spell it out?”

“What?” Lauren’s brows furrow in confusion.

“It’s you, you idiot,” Camila laughs. “You’re the person I like!”

“I am?”

“Why do you think Dinah and Mani have been so weird around you all night? It’s because they know how much I like you,” Camila tells her. Lauren remembers the look exchanged between Dinah and Normani earlier, when she thought they were silently communicating their disdain for Lauren. But Camila hadn’t elbowed them because they were judging Lauren- it was because they were silently communicating the fact that oh my, god, Camila actually came to this party with the girl she likes. “According to them,” Camila continues, pulling Lauren from her thoughts, “I never shut up about you.”

Lauren shakes her head in disbelief. “I…what? Are you sure you…like me?”

Camila rolls her eyes fondly and leans in, pressing her lips to Lauren’s. Camila has lips made for kissing.

-

“I only do this because you want me to, I hope you know,” Ally says, crouched in front of Lauren, dabbing concealer on the younger girl’s birthmark.

“What?” Lauren furrows her brows, not sure what the other girl is talking about.

“The makeup,” Ally clarifies. “I don’t put it on you because I, like…think it makes you look better. I like you with or without makeup.”

Lauren quirks an eyebrow, “Al, I know. I want you to do this- to keep customers from staring.”

“I just…don’t want you to think it makes me uncomfortable,” Ally says. “Your birthmark…I don’t think about it. You’re just Lauren to me.”

Lauren grins, “I know, Ally. But thanks.”

Ally smiles and stands up. “Alright, all done!” she chirps, throwing her concealer into her purse. Lauren thanks Ally and gets to work, restocking the coolers. The pair talk as they work and Ally asks about Camila, like she always does lately. Not that Lauren’s complaining. She likes talking about Camila. She’s fairly certain she could talk about Camila for hours on end.

They’ve been dating for a couple of months now and Lauren sits with Camila, Dinah, and Normani at lunch and she feels like she’s becoming friends with them and it’s nice. And people stare when Camila kisses her at school or when they hold hands walking through the hall and Lauren tries not to let it bother her. And Lauren bought Camila some of the cd’s she lost when her car got stolen. And Lauren thinks this is what falling in love is.

A bell interrupts Lauren rambling to Ally about Camila, though- the bell on the door that’s there to alert them to incoming customers. And speak of the devil, Lauren thinks, because it’s Camila, with Dinah and Normani in tow.

“Baby!” Camila shouts, running over and bouncing as she waits for Lauren to slip out from behind the counter so she can put her arms around Lauren’s neck and kiss her. “How’s work going?” she asks when she pulls back.

“Alright,” Lauren shrugs, smiling as she adds, “better now.”

Camila grins, laughing as Dinah and Normani make dramatic gagging sounds.

“You two are disgusting!” Dinah shouts.

“They are nauseating, aren’t they?” Ally agrees, smirking at the way Lauren narrows her eyes at the comment.

Camila just sticks her tongue out at the other girls, though. “You guys are just jealous!” she cries. Her friends laugh and begin picking out some snacks, while Ally tends to a new customer, leaving Camila and Lauren to focus on each other. When Camila looks back at Lauren, though, she frowns, reaching up and gently touching below Lauren’s right eye. “Your mark…I can barely see it?”

“Oh,” Lauren murmurs, her face heating up in embarrassment. “Ally put concealer on it for me.”

“Why?” Camila asks, looking disappointed. Lauren doesn’t understand.

She wants to say because it’s ugly but instead she says, “So people don’t stare.”

Camila studies her for a moment, as if deciding if that’s all it is. Finally, she responds, “Babe, they’ll stare no matter what. Just the burden of being as hot as you are.”

Lauren laughs and rolls her eyes. “Yeah, ok,” she says sarcastically.

Camila gives her another long look, but Lauren can’t read what she’s thinking. After a moment, though, Camila brightens up. “Anyway, we’re still on for the movie tomorrow night, yeah?”

They’re planning to see a new horror movie, even though Camila always gets scared (she knows Lauren loves them so she always suggests horror movies and then Lauren holds her hand and covers her eyes through the scary parts).

“Yes,” Lauren confirms. “I’ll pick you up about 7, so we have time to go get candy first and we can put it in your purse to sneak it in.”

“Perfect,” Camila grins, giving Lauren a kiss. “See you then, babe.”

-

Watching this horror movie is like every other time they’ve watched horror movies together. Camila keeps tucking her face in the crook in Lauren’s neck, squeaking fearfully at screams or loud bangs coming from the movie. Lauren just smiles fondly before focusing her attention back on the movie, nibbling the Reese’s pieces she got from the store.

They’re about two-thirds into the movie when Lauren can feel Camila staring at her and her face heats up as she adjusts in her seat uncomfortably.

Camila leans in close and whispers, “Did you know that you’re incredibly beautiful?”

Lauren tries to contain her smile.

“And I really, really like you,” Camila adds.

Lauren is melting.

“And I was wondering if you maybe want to be my girlfriend?”

Lauren bites her bottom lip to stop herself from smiling and somehow manages to nod calmly, her eyes still trained on the screen, though she’d be lying if she said she was taking in any of the images. From the corner of her eye, she can see Camila smile before kissing Lauren’s cheek and leaning her head on Lauren’s shoulder.

The rest of the movie, all Lauren can think about are the butterflies in her stomach and the girl leaning against her.

-

I have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world is the caption on the photo- Camila’s new profile picture on facebook, she and Lauren smiling at the camera, Lauren’s arms wrapped around Camila’s shoulders, pulling her in close.

Lauren loves this picture and she loves the caption and she loves how the day after she agreed to be Camila’s girlfriend, she got a facebook request from Camila, asking to confirm their relationship. They’ve been official for a couple of months now and Camila wants to proclaim their relationship to the world and Lauren is so, so happy. But she doesn’t get why Camila wants to show her off.

And looking at the comments on the picture, part of her wishes Camila wouldn’t show her off.

The fourth comment on the picture, made by a boy from their school- Cam…why are you with the girl with the weird birthmark???

Reading it, knowing Camila will see it, knowing lots of people from school will see it, Lauren feels sick.

“Fuck him, ok, Lauren? He’s just an asshole who’s probably jealous of both of you,” Ally says. Lauren’s over at Ally’s apartment right now, the one she shares with her boyfriend. Lauren’s currently curled up on Ally’s couch, Ally perched next to her, and the older girl’s laptop open on the coffee table in front of her, to show Ally the cruel comment.

Lauren sniffs, praying she doesn’t actually cry. “I just don’t get it,” she sighs. “How can someone like Camila be with me?”

“Lauren? Camila is crazy about you,” Ally argues, shaking her head in confusion.

“I know she is,” Lauren responds. “I just don’t get why. Camila is so beautiful and funny and smart. She could have anyone she wants and she’s with me? It makes no sense.”

“Lauren, what are you talking about?” Ally cries. “You’re beautiful and funny and smart too!”

Lauren shrugs off the compliments and instead takes notice of the list of her friends online. “Shit…Camila’s on. She’s going to see it now.”

“So what? It’s not like some asshole’s comment is going to change how she feels about you,” Ally points out.

“I guess,” Lauren agrees, watching as Ally refreshes the page. When it’s done reloading, the ignorant comment is gone.

“I bet Camila deleted it,” Ally says.

Lauren’s phone goes off then, interrupting the conversation and when Lauren pulls it out, she sees that it’s Camila calling. Lauren bites her lip uncertainly, but Ally nudges her, urging her to answer, so Lauren puts the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Hey babe!” Camila chirps, cheery as always. “How are you?”

“Uh, I’m good, you?” Lauren replies, wondering if Camila’s going to mention the comment.

“I’m good…you sure you’re ok? You sound a bit off?”

“No, I’m ok, I promise,” Lauren assures her.

“Good, because there was a rude comment on facebook and I was worried maybe you’d seen it,” Camila tells her.

“A rude comment,” Lauren repeats.

“Yeah, some kid from school,” Camila answers. “I deleted it, though, and blocked him. I can’t believe I used to be friends with that jerk.”

Lauren can’t help but smile. Camila blocked him just because he made a comment about Lauren. “Thanks, babe, for blocking him,” Lauren says. “To be honest, I did see it, I just…I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry he said that,” Camila sighs. “He’s a dick, ok?”

“It’s whatever,” Lauren replies, attempting nonchalance. “He was just telling the truth.” She didn’t mean to say that, though, and as soon as the words leave her mouth, her eyes widen and she covers her mouth with her free hand.

“What?” Camila asks. “What do you mean, he was telling the truth?”

“I…well, I just meant…like…he was just…um…”

“Babe, do you think that all-”

“Can we just pretend I didn’t say that?” Lauren interjects. “I didn’t mean to say it, ok?”

There’s a long pause and Lauren’s anxiety grows with each passing second. Finally, Camila says, “Ok. I’ll pretend you never said that if you agree to come out with me tonight?”

“Ok,” Lauren smiles. “I can agree to that.”

-

“So where are we going?” Lauren asks once she’s in Camila’s car- or, rather, Camila’s mom’s car.

“You’ll see,” Camila answers, flashing her a grin before leaning over and planting a kiss on Lauren’s lips.

“Come on, just tell me,” Lauren pleads, widening her eyes in an attempt to pull off her girlfriend’s patented puppy dog look.

Camila stands strong, though, giggling at Lauren’s antics before shaking her head no. “You’ll figure it out soon anyway.”

Lauren sighs heavily and sinks in her seat, crossing her arms and pouting, but she’s just teasing Camila. Truthfully, she likes that Camila wants to surprise her. The drive is about ten minutes and Lauren spends the time blaring the Electra Heart album and singing along loudly and Camila loves every moment of it, loves seeing her usually serious girlfriend just being silly and having fun.

When they reach their destination, though, Lauren furrows her brows in confusion and turns the music down. It’s the middle school they both went to. Middle school was hell for Lauren- she was mocked mercilessly for her birthmark. For Camila, though, middle school was when things got good. She began to blossom and make friends and by the time eighth grade came, she was in with the popular crowd.

Camila parks right in front of school and then gives Lauren a mischievous grin, “Come on.” Camila clambers up onto the hood of the car, adjusting until she’s comfortable.

Lauren’s confused, but she follows suit, climbing up next to Camila. “So…we’re at our middle school?”

Camila nods and points to a bench underneath a tree, near the front entrance. “That’s where I was sitting the first time I saw you.”

Lauren blushes, smiling in confusion and shock at the other girl. “What?”

“I was sitting there, nervous about school. It was sometime in the first week of sixth grade and I was having a lot of trouble making friends and school…well school sucked,” Camila says. “So I was sitting there, putting off going inside for as long as I could, when I see this beautiful girl walk by. You looked so…confident and cool and interesting. And I thought ‘wow, I would love to be her friend.’ I kept noticing you after that, in the halls and in a couple of our shared classes, and in the cafeteria. And you know how I recognized you?”

Lauren wants to cringe. She has a bad feeling about where this is going.

“Your eyes,” Camila says, and Lauren gives her a surprised look. She was expecting it to be her birthmark that made Camila notice her. “You have the most beautiful, piercing eyes. The night we first talked, I was going to tell you that. I was going to say that your eyes are what made me recognize you, but you cut me off before I could. And now that I know you better, I realize it’s because you thought I was going to say something about your birthmark.”

Lauren ducks her head in embarrassment. That’s exactly what she thought, exactly what she keeps thinking- that the people around her just see her as a giant walking birthmark.

“Babe, you need to realize that you’re not just the girl with the weird birthmark,” Camila says, as if reading her thoughts. “You’re intelligent and you like Lana del Rey and you smoke too much and you hate parties and you sleep with your mouth open and you love popcorn and if you could fill your bedroom with lots of little plants and flowers, you would, and you have stunning eyes and a great body and you happen to have a birthmark. And frankly, I like your birthmark. It’s part of you and I love every part of you.”

“I’m sorry,” Lauren breathes out. “I’m just…so insecure about it. I hate it, ok? Every time I look at myself, I just wish I could scrub it away. When I look at me, I feel like I’m not seeing me, I’m seeing my birthmark. And I guess I just keep thinking that’s how everyone else sees me too.”

“Lo,” Camila starts, using the familiar nickname for her girlfriend as she rests her hand on the girl’s thigh, giving her leg a gentle squeeze, “we all have insecurities. And I get that your birthmark is worse than my insecurities because you’ve been bullied about it so much and you’ve been made to feel like that’s all you are to people- is the girl with the birthmark. But to your family, to Ally, to Mani and Dinah, to me…you’re so much more. I don’t expect you to suddenly love your birthmark as much as I do, ok? But baby, I’m going to do everything I can to show you how beautiful you are. I’m not going to let it slide when you make comments about how people see you and your birthmark anymore. I haven’t said anything in the past because I didn’t want to cause an argument, or I felt like we weren’t in the right place to have that conversation, but I can’t let that stuff go anymore because it breaks my heart to hear you talk about yourself like that, Lauren. You’re beautiful and I love you, birthmark and all.”

To emphasize her point, Camila leans over and kisses Lauren’s birthmark, the older girl closing her eyes to allow her girlfriend to do so. After Camila pulls back from the kiss, she thumbs away tears Lauren didn’t even realize had escaped.

“I love you, too, Mila,” Lauren whispers. “I’m going to work on not caring about what other people say, love, I promise.”

“I only want you to because I want you to be happy,” Camila replies. “I know how letting what other people say can bring you down because I used to- hell, sometimes I still do- let it affect me. But it shouldn’t matter what people think about how we look because they don’t know us. They’re not important. For me, you’re important, and my friends and family are important, and I don’t need anyone else’s opinion.”

Lauren nods in agreement. “All this time,” she says, “I wanted to avoid this conversation. I wanted to pretend my birthmark wasn’t even there, but I’m glad you said all this to me, Camz. I needed to hear it. I needed to know that you love my birthmark.”

“I really do, babe,” Camila tells her. “I think it makes you unique. And, I don’t know, it’s beautiful. Maybe I just think that because I think you’re beautiful in general, but whatever. The point is, in my eyes, you’re as close to perfect as someone can get.”

Lauren laughs, “Well, I’m fairly certain you actually are perfect.”

“I don’t know about that,” Camila responds, smirking as she goes on. “I lose cars every once in a while.”

-

It’s incredibly cheesy, Lauren thinks, as all weddings are. But Camila does that to her- turns her into a big ball of cheese. It’s been seven years since the two became girlfriends, and here they are, standing up in front of their friends and family- Ally as Lauren’s maid of honor, Dinah as Camila’s, and Normani as the minister (she got the certificate online specifically so she could marry Lauren and Camila).

The two are in matching white fitted suits- Camila’s idea- and they’re holding hands, tears already running down their cheeks, smiling ear to ear as they express their love.

Lauren didn’t let Ally conceal her birthmark today; she’s come to love it, almost as much as Camila does. She doesn’t shy away from the questions anymore, just explains that no, it’s not a scar or a black eye or any type of disease, just a birthmark.

Camila has been practically bouncing all day, so giddy that they’re finally tying the knot- that when they go back to their shared apartment after their weeklong honeymoon in Italy, they’ll be a married couple. Lauren’s pretty sure that had she let her, Camila would’ve married her the summer after they started dating. But she wanted to wait, get her Bachelor’s degree first, and she’s glad she did.

They agreed to keep their vows short (both could go on and on and on if they allowed themselves), and the wedding party is silent and in awe as they speak.

“Camila,” Lauren starts, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, “you’re incredible. Thank you for teaching me to love myself. I love you more than anything in the world.”

Camila’s vows are, in typical Camila fashion, less serious. “Lauren, I don’t know what I’d do or who I’d be without you. Having my car stolen was so worth getting to talk to you. I love you more than anything in the world.”

They both grin at each other as Normani recites her lines and they exchange their I do’s. And then it comes, finally. “I now pronounce you wives.”

Camila squeals happily and wraps her arms around Lauren’s neck, pulling her in and resting her forehead against Lauren’s as they kiss.

“Wives,” Camila whispers excitedly, so only Lauren can hear.

Lauren smiles, closing her eyes and relishing in this moment, in this incredible feeling, before breathing out, “Wives.”


End file.
